ESEA headed for the Senate

December 3, 2015

In a 359 to 64 vote on Wednesday, the U.S. House passed “a bipartisan K-12 education bill” that would replace No Child Left Behind and “significantly shift authority over the nation’s 100,000 public schools from the federal government to states and local school districts.” The Washington Post wrote that while the Senate still needs to approve the measure, “the House vote was seen as the higher hurdle because of resistance from some conservative Republicans, who said the bill did not reduce the federal role enough.” All of the “no” votes came from GOP lawmakers. The Post quotes Education Secretary Arne Duncan saying, “We are encouraged that the bill passed by the House today would codify the vision that we have long advocated for giving a fair shot at a great education to every child in America – regardless of zip code. The bill that the House passed today reflects more of that vision than nearly any observer expected.”